Meet Lawrence Pizzi

We recently connected with Lawrence Pizzi and have shared our conversation below.

Lawrence, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

Born in a family of over-achievers, failure was never an option. But as life goes, failure is all around us, and we need to understand how to accept it without letting it affect us too much. I was lucky enough to work in a company where 4 times a year we would be evaluated by our boss, the owner (it was his name on the company and in all the clothing), and by our peers. I remember being tough on my self, but being very compassionate with everybody else. This was executed during a company lunch that took all afternoon and ended up into a dinner. Being a team exercise, I was quickly confronted with praises and even envy towards my “nothing is impossible” attitude, the owner praised my ability to source zippers during a major supplier’s worldwide strike. When it was my turn to share my evaluation of myself, each and every negative point was turned around by the ones affected or that witnessed it. Some coworkers actually started to apologize stating “I never meant to project any unsatisfaction” or “the model acted erratically, you handled the situation most brilliantly, much better than me”.
The next day, the owner pulled me into the office and had a long talk about my work and position with his company. After talking about my family life, I became aware of my extremely high expectations of myself and that even I had self-doubts about them. I learned that it’s normal to wonder about my own abilities and how I accomplish tasks and that I could have taking more time to do a better job, And that I am human and can always learn to improve, grow, and fine tune my skills. This, I believe, is what has given me the ability to fit into almost every corporate environment, and help foster a true team.
It has also helped me stay grounded when I was trying to accomplish a new collection that was earth saving and still fashionable. My ability to figure out logistics and help manufacturers achieve my requests, patients and focus has helped me achieve even more them what I thought was possible.
We can all question ourselves and feel “less than” at times. But we can all help each other snap out of this state and move on with just a positive word, or smile of encouragement / acknowledgement.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I was trained as a tailor in Milan, Italy and have worked for several fashion houses/brands worldwide. Lucky enough to travel often, I was quickly faced with the ugly side of fashion production, I was not happy to just accept it. Making sure to never effect the bottom line for my product and also the manufacturers’, I started implementing changes to better working conditions, better social practices, and eventually even start rewarding people for positive actions regarding other employees, the work place, and even the environment. I always looked for better environmentally friendly replacement to help limit my part.
With the earth’s ecosystems being attacked and almost eliminated, I felt the need to do more – I saw the Yangtze River, turned indigo from all the dye run-off. I wanted to create garments that not only looked good, but felt good for the planet. Recycling old fibers was common in other markets (taking old garments, breaking them down to the fibers to re-spin into new cloth), but the North American market had a negative notion towards this. Two large firms started recycling plastic into fabrics, using older microfiber processes to improve the fabrics’ feel. With EU funding and demand, several other factories started their own programs, and I was lucky enough to me asked to put my input. I had them experimenting with old plastic water bottles, plastic food nets, and eventually started seeing fabrics. By 2012, I was starting to make garments for me to try and see how they actually performed. With tweaks and changes, 2014 was the first time I was able to offer fabrics made from discarded plastic bottles.
To some, this might have been the end they wanted, but I found it a starting point for better products (earth loving products). I quickly started to source and ask for more recycled supplies… finding myself talking to several product developers worldwide. Some worked with me as others gave me names to contact. And after Covid (staying home on Zoom helped me work even more), I was able to launch my Zero Carbon Footprint Gender-Neutral Slow Luxury Fashion Collection.
Starting with 100% Cotton from Texas and 100% Linen from Egypt, they are both Organically grown, responsibly farmed and are waterless-dyed. These fabrics are a staple that are offered year around. My next fabrics are 100% Recycled Plastic from the Pacific Ocean and 100% Recycled Medical Waste – they are also using waterless-dying technology and can also be printed on without any water, and no, it’s not using a large computer printer like most on-demand printers out there. It’s a dry powder based process that was inspired by button and feather dying. My newest fabrics are exciting and almost unbelievable… 100% Recycled Glass & Mirrors and 100% Recycled Cinder Blocks. I am currently wearing my latest two new fabrics to make sure they are what I want to offer.
The fabrics are not the only things recycled, I made sure to look for every option. All elastics and bungee-cords are 100% Recycled XXL Industrial Truck Tires. All buckles, tie stops, buttons, and zipper teeth are 100% Recycled Cardboard. The zipper pulls and shank buttons (like on jeans) are 100% Recycled Iron from old Oil Tankers. And the most fun item is – The PEARL BUTTONS are 100% Recycled Food Industry Waste. Yes, all the canned clams you ate. The shells are now becoming buttons.
Behind the scenes, every little piece of scraps is sent back to the mills to be recycled. WE only produce what is ordered, eliminating ANY OVER-PRODUCTION. We are using recycled paper and cardboard made from Apple Cider production.
Our goal has shifted to using items that would have been destined for landfills, should end up in our clothes and on our bodies.
Our biggest obstacle is distance. If only we could have everything made locally, this would be a Negative Carbon Footprint collection. But once again, patients and logistics with eventually help solve this as well.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

LISTENING – #1. Listen, Take Notes, Record, Take pics… People will tell you everything you need to know (in CODE). We just need to listen and ask more questions (and not just about what you want to know). Ask about their family, what they like to eat, or how is living here like for you? Info is everywhere, we just need to extract it and use it wisely.

CURIOSITY – #2. For me, curiosity has kept me always looking for more/ the next answer. Be it work, art, food, or even my next vacation, keeping my need to figure out new things keeps me alive and connected with the world and people. I love my job and what I do, but I do not want to live in a world where all I have is my work. I need time to relax and keep myself busy with other things. Figuring out how to take a bus from an airport to my hotel in Beijing, or what’s the best walking path through Naples? I find that not just traveling to a new place is enough, I enjoy being part of the people, riding the bus from Salerno to Positano with the locals.

SELF – #3. Me, what do I need. This is how I keep myself grounded and functioning. I had a fight with cancer and find myself lacking the level of energy I used to have. I need to take time to sit, relax. I need to understand what I eat and how I use my energy will directly impact me later on today/tonight. Listen you youSELF and be honest about what you need. I know my limits, but I do not let them define me. I work with them to achieve the results I desire without paying the full price. I tire out easily, so I plan downtimes through my day. And if I have a full day, I allow myself the next day to recover. We are all different and require our own special schedules. We need to put ourselves first, How can you rely on a car if you never take it to the dealer for maintenance? Take Care of Self!

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

My parents moved. We moved every six months, to a different city and country. I learned how to make friends and keep people in my life, even when they were not close by physically. And because of this, I can pick up and move anywhere… and I have. I do identify my aunts’ homes in Genova, Italy as home. Not only have I spend most summers there, I always feel like I have come home once I step foot there.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Models in each pic
1 – Ming, Jemel, Mike 2- pr3to, AJay 3- Denise. 4- Konstantin

5- pr3to 4- AJay 5- Mike, Ming, Jemel 6- Jemel, Ming

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